fasting and weight loss - Page 2

[nola79]

I know I am late to this thread, but OP, you absolutely need to eat more and more often. Your first meal should be within 1 hour of waking to jumpstart your metabolism. It doesn't have to be a heavy meal, just something. Ideally, you should aim for 5 to 6 mini meals a day. I know this sounds like a lot, but it's really not. Good Luck!

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by ambereva 

Originally Posted by Panserbjorne 

well, given that I thought it was okay for years before hearing about the protocol I'm guessing you don't.  It's my years of clinical nutrition and biochemistry that helped me out there.  ;)

Your years of clinical nutrition and biochemistry support the idea that a non-sedentary nursing mother can meet her nutritional needs on 1200 calories a day? I'm pretty sure the OP has an eating disorder and making claims like this, and 'backing' them up with posts like this is borderline irresponsible, and certainly triggering.

Even IF a woman could meet her needs on 1200 calories, WHY?!?!? Most women, even virtually sedentary women, can eat 1500-2000 a day and lose weight. Heck, I lost 80 pounds on 2800 calories a day. NO woman should spend her life hungry. It's totally inhumane and degrading. We are worthy of feeding ourselves nourishing foods in adequate amounts. We deserve to be well nourished, we deserve to have the strength and energy to enjoy an active life. Our daughters (and sons) deserve to see us loving and caring for our bodies, not starving them into submission.

Wow, this significantly misses the point.   So much so that I'm not even sure what to say.  Since the OP is asking for help I'm not going to debate on her thread.  I asked a few questions.  I didn't back anything up, I'm curious to know if there are any clues to a mechanism at play here that we aren't seeing.  I never once said not to get support for the emotional aspects, I'm addressing the physical which may or may not point to helpful suggestions for testing that can be done. 

Good for you for losing on 2800 calories a day.  That doesn't for one red hot second mean that you know what can help others who don't have your unique make up.  We are all different and at times require radically different support.  I lost over 60 pounds on a high fat, moderate protein, low starch diet taking in calories that were well in excess of my daily needs-but that doesn't mean that everyone will.  It also didn't mean that once I gained weight again going back to that diet would help me.  It didn't.  There are no absolutes here.

In this situation it could be what's ingested.  IT could be an endocrine issue involving the thyroid, the adrenals, the pituitary etc.  It could be a nice combination of the two (gluten is known and clinically shown to impair thyroid function.)  Perhaps there an insulin/leptin imbalance.  Without more information there is no good support that can be offered from a physical standpoint.  Emotional, yes, absolutely.  I'm not personally willing to say that anyone is starving on 1200 calories a day without more information and you don't have to agree with me.  I never said that everything was hunky dory and that things were just peachy keen-continue on your way.

YOU are the one jumping to conclusions here.  I'm sorry if I was amiss at not saying that I agree with getting counseling, because I do.  There is clearly an emotional component to all of this which she stated.  I was simply asking for more information on the physical level because that's where my focus happened to be. 

Now, back to the point of the thread.
 

[blessedwithboys]

OP, you said eating alone makes you sad?  Honey, it sounds to me like your issues are less physical and more emotional.  Do you think that maybe seeking counseling will help you?  It really sounds like your relationship with food is less than ideal.  I know about this, because I have lived through it for my entire adult life. 

You for sure need to eat more frequently.  You almost certainly need more calories.  But if sad feelings keep you from doing these things, the problem goes deeper.

I practice fasting, but I can't imagine recommending it to you right now.  Fasting is not done to lose weight.  It's done for overall health, and weight loss sometimes happens in the process.  I've done a round of master cleanse and not lost an ounce, but I felt wonderfully invigorated at the end.

I wish you all the best and hope that you are able to get help for your food issues.  GL!  :)

[alittlesandy]

OP, I get some of your frustration, because a lot of it has to do with height. I am 5 feet 2 inches and trying very hard to lose weight. I am utterly stuck at 145 pounds. No matter how much I exercise (I didn't even lose weight while training for a marathon several years ago), the only way for me to drop pounds is to eat less than 1,200 calories each day. All of the calorie counters I use recommend that I eat 1,200 calories each day to lose fat, even when I select "active." Of course, I can't bring myself to cut calories this much, because I love to eat. And, because like many of the previous posters have said, I don't really think it's healthy to eat that little.

Much of what we think about "healthy" body weights assumes a "once size fits all" approach to eating and health. The reality is that many actresses and models are so slender because they smoke and starve themselves. I know that some of it is genetic. However, I have a lot of very thin friends who claim they eat what they want and are "naturally" thin, but what they eat is significantly less than what I eat. The thinnest people I know are people who don't really care as much about food as I do. I have one friend who "forgets" to eat, and another who doesn't eat when she is stressed. I am the opposite. I also have thin friends who are happy eating things like power bars, granola bars, trail mix, fruit. I need real food, hot food, comfort food or my stomach gets this hollow gnawing feeling. I eat a very healthy, somewhat vegetarian diet, but I the biggest problem I have is portion control.

My point is this: I think we have to ask ourselves if it's worth it to compromise our health and happiness to achieve an ideal body weight. I am getting closer to loving my body the way it is, because I think I would rather eat than be thin.